Conga Line

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For other uses of "Conga", see Conga (disambiguation).

A conga line is being formed by some of the children at this swimming pool.

The conga is a Latin American carnival march that became popular in the United States in the 1930s and 1950s. The dancers form a long, processing line. It has three shuffle steps on the beat, followed by a kick that is slightly ahead of the fourth beat.

1 Origin
2 Variations
3 Metaphorical use
4 References

[edit] Origin

A bride leads the conga at her wedding.

The dance originated in the Latin-American carnivals tradition, where its simple rhythm and steps encouraged mass participation.^[1]

In 1930s it was introduced to the American public by Desi Arnaz.

The name refers to the Cuban conga drum which was used to beat out the rhythm. This was a name given to it in the United States rather than its original name^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Variations

In Cuba, the conga is known today under the name Comparsa.

In the 1950s a variation known as the bunny hop became popular in the United States.

In the 1960s Eddie Palmieri popularized the "Mozambique".

There is a very similar Finnish dance called the letkajenkka.

[edit] Metaphorical use

A conga line can also refer to an organized system of people trying to acquire enough referrals to get a "free gift" (such as an Ipod or an Xbox 360) from websites run by or similar those created by Gratis Internet.